March 24, 2017 11:21 AM

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán welcomed NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to Budapest on Thursday, March 23 for talks on the current trans-Atlantic security apparatus and enlargement of NATO and the European Union.

In a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán urged greater acceleration of the integration of the Western Balkans into the European Union and NATO and pledged greater security cooperation and military commitment to NATO. The Secretary-General thanked the Prime Minister for Hungary’s significant contributions to NATO’s collective defense. Since 2014, Hungary has stopped the cuts in defense spending and has increased it in real terms.

Later this year Hungarian troops will deploy to the Baltics as part of NATO’s Forward Presence in the eastern part of the Alliance. Hungary is also one of the largest contributors to NATO’s KFOR peacekeeping mission in Kosovo and in Afghanistan, Hungarian forces have also served as part of NATO’s Resolute Support Mission. The mission is to train, assist and advise the Afghan security forces to ensure the country never again becomes a safe haven for international terrorists.

During his visit, the Secretary-General also met with the Hungarian Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs, István Simicskó and Péter Szijjártó.